Partey Ready for World Cup Debut After Visa Battle

Nearly two weeks after Ghana landed in the United States, Thomas Partey, their most high-profile player, is expected to get his World Cup under way against England on Tuesday afternoon. This comes after Partey was forced to miss their opening game victory over Panama on June 17 and had to remain at the national team's training base in Boston.

As exclusively revealed by The Athletic on June 13, Partey was denied entry to Canada after his visa application was refused. The Ghana international faced charges of five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in July 2025 by London's Metropolitan Police. He pleaded not guilty to those charges in September of that year. Partey was subsequently charged with two new counts of rape in February this year, to which he also pleaded not guilty in April.

"I think it is part of football and things happen outside of football that you cannot control," Partey said on Monday at a Ghana press appearance when asked if missing the first match has made him more eager to perform. "For me, no, I feel OK and am ready to play."

Visa Application Controversy

Before Ghana's opening match, Partey failed in an attempt to overturn his visa denial by lodging an appeal in a Canadian federal court, where it then emerged that his application, which was received by the country's immigration department on May 21, falsely claimed that he had not been charged with any criminal offences in any country.

A letter from Canada's Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship department refusing Partey's visa application said he was "inadmissible to Canada" as a result of the charges he faces. He lost his appeal on the eve of the game against Panama.

Ghana's second game of the World Cup takes place in the United States, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, meaning Partey is clear to play having arrived in the U.S. without issue before the tournament.

US vs Canada Approach

Partey's inability to enter Canada could become an issue again as the runners-up in group L are on course to play a last 32 game in Toronto. Asked by The Athletic about the different approaches taken by Canada and the United States over Partey, Andrew Giuliani, the President Trump-appointed director of the White House World Cup task force, said:

"When you see something like this — again, these charges are heinous, right? But it's important to let the legal process play out. It's fascinating we're having that conversation as we're talking about our 250th birthday, because the incredible foresight that our founding fathers had, certainly in our due process rights, I think is highlighted."

England's Response

Much of the attention in the build up to Ghana's fixture in Boston on Tuesday afternoon will undoubtedly focus on Partey, particularly in England. It has been reported in multiple publications that the English Football Association has left it up to the players to decide if they want to shake the midfielder's hand during the pre-match ceremony.

Dan Burn, one of England's centre-backs in the U.S., was asked about Partey on Saturday, but the team's communications officer quickly intervened and said there would be no comment due to the ongoing legal case in the UK.

Queiroz Defends Team Focus

Carlos Queiroz, Ghana's head coach, also declined to speak about Partey's situation but said his line-up would change from the opening win over Panama.

"All my life I never talk individually," he said at his pre-England press conference on Monday. "I only talk about one specific player in my team: the team. Panama was one game. Now it is a different game. We are going to introduce a couple of different players in the starting line-up."

Visa Application Questions

Since it emerged that Partey's visa application to enter Canada had been incorrectly filled out, questions have been raised about whether the charges he faces were included in his application for a U.S. visa. The U.S. Department of State, the body that processes travel documents for foreign nationals to enter the country, carries out continuous vetting, even if someone has been granted entry and is already in the country. It does not comment on individual cases.

Sources familiar with the situation, speaking anonymously as they were not cleared to speak publicly, said that if anyone had, deliberately or accidentally, incorrectly filled out one of the forms and that was brought to their attention, that could be considered grounds for revocation. However, there is no indication that the forms applying for Partey's U.S. visa were incorrectly filled out.

Since his entry to the U.S. earlier this month, Partey, when he has been with the squad, has been involved in training at the team's Bryant University campus base and also took part in a local community event that saw him and other members of the Ghana setup interacting with local children.

When his teammates flew to Toronto ahead of the Panama fixture, the midfielder remained at the team's Providence, Rhode Island, hotel, Graduate by Hilton. But when they board the coach to head to Foxboro on Tuesday afternoon, Partey will almost certainly be on it — and, given the events of the past 10 days, the subject of a great deal of attention.

Partey denies any wrongdoing and his lawyer has previously said he welcomes the opportunity to clear his name at a trial, which is scheduled for June 2027.